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My 1973 Midget won't start.....

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earlgrey

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Mostly because I let it sit for a year....Lights go on. car turns over. and I think that is the lovely hum of the fuel pump over my right shoulder. So I am assuming the gas is bad...very very bad. I have half a tank. Do you think I can just add 4 or 5 gallons of good gas and it will get going?

Thanks
Ari
 
DRAIN it and make sure the floats are working properly and the jets are not gummed up
 
So just adding gas won't work?....I was afraid of that. Any good ways to drain the tank? Or should I just bite the bullet and have it towed to my mechanic?
 
don't know about the '73 but my '72 has a drain plug on the bottom of the tank

If there is no drain plug you could always disconnect a fuel line and turn the ignition on and let the pump pump it out
 
A trick I learned here was to take a piece of hose and slip it in the gas tank while half of it is hanging over a bucket. Using compressed air, cup your hand over the filler mouth and blow some air in the tank. Only add a little and when you stop, the gas will flow though the tube into the bucket. I did this in lieu of using gas as mouthwash. I then turned the fuel pump on for the last little bit of gas. It takes too long to use the pump for the whole thing and my tank did not have a drain. While I was having my tank done, I had them add a drain plug.
 
thanks....now I just have to figure out were to put the old gas...gonna run to the Pep boys and get a couple 5 gallon jugs and try not to blow the thing up.
 
Well well well....just made a fool of myself...lol...I gave her one more try before I started the gas adventure....and she gave the barest hint of starting...kept at it and, low and behold she started up...the fool part was me hugging the car and whispering sweet nothings to it on a public street.

Thanks for the advice guys. Think I will be much nicer to it during the winter from now on!
 
Happens to the best of us.....oh and welcome to the BCF!
 
Use premium fuel and before you store it for the winter add a "stabiliser" to the gas left in the tank.

For whatever reason, premium seems not to degrade into dinosaur pee as quickly as the other blends.

Welcome to the best LBC forum on-planet, too! /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/savewave.gif

...and before some smarty-pants says it:
ALL the off-planet LBC forums are indeed junk. I've checked. /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/jester.gif /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/devilgrin.gif
 
I expect what you really had was some gum in the carbs from the fuel drying out in there.

Always always run the fuel system ie carbs dry before you store. And yes this includes lawn mowers and edgers, out boards and such. As long as I do this I never have a problem.
 
jlaird said:
I expect what you really had was some gum in the carbs from the fuel drying out in there.

Always always run the fuel system ie carbs dry before you store. And yes this includes lawn mowers and edgers, out boards and such. As long as I do this I never have a problem.
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I'm with you Jack and I learnt it the hard way
 
I'm with you guys on this. I stored my car while stationed overseas, and put sta-bil in the tank, but did not drain out the bowls. when I returned I found some slimy looking stuff clogging up the carbs. Once I cleaned this out, she fired right off.
 
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